In French patent application No. 92 05069 of Apr. 24, 1992, the Applicant describes such packaging that is generally basket-shaped and at least approximately in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped comprising two identical large lateral faces and two identical small sides faces, said faces being square or rectangular and being connected to one another by means of first parallel fold lines;
a bottom constituted by first flaps connected to at least some of said lateral faces via second fold lines orthogonal to said first fold lines; PA1 extensions that extend, from their sides opposite to said bottom, said large lateral faces relative to said small lateral faces; and PA1 a cover formed by two second flaps respectively connected to said extensions via third fold lines orthogonal to said first fold lines. PA1 an alternating sequence of at least two large and two small panels that are rectangular or square, the panels being identical in pairs to form said two large and said two small lateral faces, said panels being connected to one another by first parallel fold lines; PA1 first lateral flaps for forming the bottom of said packaging and disposed on one side of said sequence of panels, being connected to at least some of said panels by second fold lines perpendicular to said first fold lines; PA1 extensions extending, from their sides opposite to said first lateral flaps, said large panels relative to said small panels; and PA1 two second flaps for forming the cover of said packaging and respectively connected to said extensions via third fold lines orthogonal to said first fold lines. PA1 two identical large lateral faces and two identical small lateral faces, said faces being square or rectangular and being connected to one another by parallel first fold lines; and PA1 a bottom constituted by first flaps connected to at least some of said lateral faces via second fold lines orthogonal to said first fold lines; PA1 said package further including: PA1 the package being remarkable: PA1 an alternating sequence of at least two large and two small panels that are rectangular or square, and that are identical in pairs for forming said two large and said two small lateral faces, said panels being connected to one another by parallel first fold lines; PA1 first lateral flaps disposed on one side of said sequence of panels and connected to at least some of said panels via second fold lines that are perpendicular to said first fold lines and that are designed to form the bottom of said package; PA1 extensions extending, from the side opposite to said first lateral flaps, said large panels relative to said small panels; and PA1 two second flaps designed to form the cover of said package and respectively connected to said extensions by third fold lines orthogonal to said first fold lines. PA1 parallel to said second fold lines, said large panels are of a length corresponding to the length of said row of bottles; PA1 parallel to said second fold lines, said small panels are of a dimension corresponding to the diameter of said bottles; PA1 parallel to said first fold lines, the distance between said second and third fold lines corresponds to the height of said bottles; PA1 parallel to said third fold lines, the length of said second flaps corresponds to the overall distance over the top ends of the first and last bottles in said row; and PA1 perpendicular to said third fold lines, the width of said second flaps corresponds to the diameter of the top ends of said bottles. PA1 displacement means for continuously displacing said package parallel to its large lateral faces from an initial position in which said package is loaded and in said open position as defined above to a final position in which it is closed, enclosing said load; PA1 presser means for continuously pressing said large faces sideways against said load during said displacement; and PA1 a combination of means acting successively or partially simultaneously during said continuous displacement of said package and comprising: PA1 said means for displacing the package may be formed by a conveyor; PA1 said first means for forming said first gutter may comprise first stationary ramps acting on said top portion of said first extension, on the first of said second flaps, and on the first of said third flaps; PA1 said second means for pressing and holding said first upsidedown gutter against said top end of said load may comprise a presser wheel and first fixed ramps of said first means; PA1 said third means for forming said second gutter may comprise second stationary ramps acting on said top portion of said second extension, on the second of said second flaps, and on the second of said third flaps; PA1 said fifth means for applying and holding said second gutter engaged on said first gutter may comprise an endless presser band and at least one third stationary ramp; and PA1 said sixth means may comprise opposing endless bands. PA1 conveyor means; PA1 at least one machine for taking said blanks and making open packages therefrom, and feeding them to said conveyor means; PA1 at least one machine fed with loads and receiving said open packages conveyed by said conveyor means and inserting said loads into said open packages; and PA1 at least one machine as specified above.
To make such packaging, a blank of sheet material such as card or corrugated cardboard is provided, said blank comprising:
Such a blank is used in any suitable manner, by folding and gluing or stapling, and preferably by implementing the techniques described in American patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,930 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,271, to form an empty package that is open and in which the strip of sides and the bottom are respectively formed by said sequence of panels and by said first lateral flaps, said extensions and said second flaps delimiting a top opening through which the load that is to be contained in said package is inserted. Thereafter, the two second flaps are folded down one on the other and they are fixed together, e.g. by spots or lines of glue disposed between them, while being pressed against the top face of said load, which serves as a backing abutment.
Said second panels thus form the cover of said package, the cover being at least approximately in contact with the top face of said load.
From the above it can immediately be seen that since the top face of the load serves as a backing abutment while the cover is being formed, the quality of the cover formed in this way depends very much on the planeness, the continuity, and the area of said top face. It will easily be understood that if said top face is small, discontinuous, and/or rounded, then the juxtaposing and the fixing of said second flaps can only be approximate.
Furthermore, when the shape of said load is such that its top portion is narrower than its bottom portion, it becomes necessary, whenever said load needs to be held securely by said package, and prior to forming the cover, to apply lateral pressure to said extensions so as to move them towards each other in order to enable them to form a better fit on the upwardly converging lateral walls of said load, with the package then fitting said load as closely as possible for this purpose. Nevertheless, in the event that said load is not completely stable vertically, applying such lateral pressure runs the risk of causing said load or a portion thereof (if it comprises a plurality of items) to tilt sideways to some extent. This therefore constitutes another cause of the cover being formed defectively.